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John Ross Powers is one of the accused in a Nov. 23, 2011 kidnapping, special to the Sun.

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, PNG

METRO VANCOUVER -- Five gangsters used sophisticated tracking devices and encrypted BlackBerrys as they plotted to kidnap a wealthy Metro Vancouver man in an attempt at a million-dollar ransom, B.C. Supreme Court heard Monday.

Crown counsel Mark Sheardown laid out the prosecution's theory of the Nov. 23, 2011 kidnapping of Eric Low during his opening statement at the trial of Troy Dax McKinnon, Derek James Stephens, John Ross Powers, Cody Alexander Sleigh and Van Van Vu.

All five are charged with conspiracy, kidnapping involving a firearm for an organized crime group, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. Powers and Sleigh face an additional count each for possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition nearby.

Sheardown described how Low was grabbed at gunpoint about 11 a.m. in the parking lot of a Blockbuster video store then located at Fraser and 50th in Vancouver.

"Two males jumped out of a vehicle that had parked next to his. The Crown says these two men were the accused, John Powers and Cody Sleigh," Sheardown told Justice Barbara Fisher. "Mr. Low was viciously attacked by these two men. Low tried to resist them, but they were able to get him into the minivan they were driving and move away at a high rate of speed."

He said the man in the back of the van continued to assault Low, who the suspects had been following for more than a week.

"We expect that the evidence will show the males urged him to stop resisting and said they knew that he had a wife and child. The male brandished a firearm in the course of the assault and kidnapping of Mr. Low."

As the gangsters followed Low, members of the Gang Task Force were following them, Sheardown said.

"Fortunately this incident occurred under the watchful eye of the police who had the accused under surveillance for a considerable amount of time," the prosecutor said.

"They will testify about what they saw and their evidence will make clear the level of violence that was inflicted upon Mr. Low in the course of the assault."

Police quickly moved in and rescued Low, finding him swollen, with cuts and covered in blood.

A search of the van turned up a Colt .45 handgun, several rounds of ammunition, two magazines purchased days before at a Fraser Street gun shop, encrypted BlackBerrys and a computer that was being used to monitor tracking devices the gangsters had placed on two of Low's vehicles.

Photos of Low and his family were later found on a computer hard drive also seized in the investigation, Sheardown said.

He said Powers made statements to police about the motive of the kidnapping, saying it was purely for profit and that the gangsters had hoped to collect a million-dollar ransom.

Initially, the investigation was targeting gangster Jesse Margison of the Independent Soldiers, but soon police gathered evidence about the roles of all of the accused, Sheardown said.

Margison remains on the indictment but has been found unfit to stand trial because of brain damage he suffered in a brutal beating inside North Fraser Pre-trial Centre.

Sheardown did not provide specifics about the gang links of the accused Monday.

But when they were charged, police said they had links to the Independent Soldiers, a mid-level Lower Mainland gang that has been decimated by a series of arrests and murders of members in recent years.

And police said the accused were doing kidnappings for a variety of motives at the time, some for profit, like in Low's case, and others to collect drug-trade debts.

Sheardown said the accused used two tracking devices on Low's vehicles, which they monitored on two computers using sophisticated software.

He said the Crown's case would take eight weeks to present, with the victim testifying this week, followed by police testifying about surveillance and wiretap evidence as well as the evidence seized from the computers, BlackBerrys and cellphones.

Details on the accused:

Troy Dax McKinnon, 30

Crown prosecutor Mark Sheardown described McKinnon as a leader in the kidnapping plot. Just months earlier, unrelated kidnapping and assault charges were dismissed against him. He has a lengthy criminal record.

Jesse John Margison, 28

Margison has been found unfit to stand trial due to brain damage from a prison beating. Sheardown said Margison was the target of the surveillance that led police to uncover the

kidnapping plot. Along with McKinnon, he had earlier kidnapping and assault charges dismissed.

John Ross Powers, 27

Sheardown said Powers was one of two accused who grabbed the victim on Nov. 23, 2011. He has a minor record for driving offences.

Van Van Vu, 27

Sheardown said Vu was linked to two minivans rented by the kidnapping gang. He was acquitted in 2009 of a role in the 2006 kidnapping of Vancouver university student Graham McMynn.

Cody Alexander Sleigh, 24

Sheardown said Sleigh was with Powers when the victim was grabbed and assaulted. He was also known to police prior to his arrest for the kidnapping.

Derek James Stephens, 30

Stephens was convicted in 2012 of occupying a vehicle that contained a firearm in October 2010. His co-accused in that case, Christopher Reddy, was murdered in a targeted hit in July 2011.